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Oil slick reaches state BP stations

Scott Heppe (right) changes the oil and filter on an SUV owned by longtime customer Eddie Ciganek on Thursday at Heppe’s Service BP Fuels, 8235 W. Blue Mound Road. Heppe is the third-generation owner, and his son works there as well.

The goo fouling beaches, marshes and wetlands in the Gulf of Mexico is beginning to make its way to Wisconsin.

BP, the London-based oil company responsible for the failed deep-water well in the Gulf, has nearly 700 gas stations in the state, and some franchisees are telling their trade association that they're feeling an oil spill backlash.

"We are hearing from some of our members that their numbers are down," said Pam Christenson,director of public affairs for the Wisconsin Petroleum Marketers and Convenience Store Association.

As the marathon catastrophe drags on in the Gulf, anger over images of birds and animals covered in crude oil has led to boycotts and protests of BP.

Those boycotts, though, have the potential to hammer hundreds of small-business owners in the state who say they are far removed from the events affecting the Gulf of Mexico.

"Basically what you're doing is hurting the small-business person who has no control over this," said John Kruepke, co-owner of Jackson-based J&M Ltd.

He and his family started with a single gas station 25 years ago and now have four BP franchises - two in Jackson and one each in Richfield and Hartford.

Kruepke said his customers recognize that he has nothing to do with the oil spill. He's just as frustrated as anyone about the situation.

"Nobody's happy with it, but (customers) realize we're down on the end of the food chain, that we really have no control over it," he said.

The spill is definitely on the minds of customers, said Roger Breunig who owns BP stations in Menomonee Falls and Brookfield.

"People talk about it in a nice way. Nobody gets angry," Breunig said. "Some customers will comment about it, but they're sure not angry with me.

"It has not affected business whatsoever."

There are about 3,000 gas stations in Wisconsin, and of those, 675 are BP stations, according to the company and the Wisconsin Petroleum Council trade association.

Every one of the BP stations is a franchise.

Scott Heppe runs a third-generation gas station and service garage at 8235 W. Blue Mound Road in Milwaukee.

He said his regular customers are expressing worry about his business and how it might be impacted by BP's troubles.

"When they come in, they wonder if it's affected us at all," Heppe said.

His family dealt with the oil crisis of the 1970s and will weather this, too, he said.

"Boycotts - all they hurt is the small-business guy," Heppe said. "He's the guy just trying to make a living and squeak by. How long is it going to take to hurt an oil company that made $15 billion last year?"

Even if they wanted to, most franchises can't simply switch brands.

"They have contracts and in some cases, those contracts are up to 10 years in length," Christenson said. "It's a big commitment when you sign on with a brand."

Promotion lives on

In addition to its retail presence in Wisconsin, BP has a promotional deal with the Milwaukee Brewers, in which fans who purchase gasoline can qualify for free game tickets.

A Brewers' spokesman said the promotion has not changed because of the spill.

"They have been good partners, and we support them in what is clearly a very difficult situation," Brewers' spokesman Tyler Barnes said.

One of the national boycotts of BP is being led by Public Citizen, a consumer advocacy group founded by Ralph Nader and based in Washington, D.C. Nader is no longer affiliated with the organization.

"We devised the boycott as a way for people to register their anger in a peaceful, constructive way to send a clear message to BP's management in London that their actions in the United States are reprehensible and we're not going to tolerate it," said Tyson Slocum, director of group's energy program.

Another boycott has been organized on the Facebook social networking site. More than 300,000 people are supporting the effort.

Protest planned

Public Citizen is planning a protest Friday in Washington.

The organization's boycott is not meant to hurt small businesses, Slocum said.

"It's not targeting the franchise gas stations," he said. "It's a national boycott. It's not like tens of thousands of people are going to be denying business to a handful of BP stores. I think the impact on the individual gas stations is going to be negligible."

Not so, say station owners and their trade group: Every gallon of gasoline they don't sell is revenue out of their pocket.

"BP does not own or operate any stations in the state of Wisconsin," Christenson said. "When you're boycotting them, you're hurting your neighbors."

"It's not going to affect a big oil company much," Kruepke said. "If there's extra oil or extra gasoline in the United States, they're going to sell it to Europe or China or wherever."

Added Heppe: "There's enough smart people out there that understand that if you're boycotting a product, who are you really hurting? The small-business owner."